Babylon
by TyeDyeHippie1969
Summary: Remake of Moulin Rouge Liberty Ave. style. PLEASE R&R! Complete!
1. Default Chapter

Prologue:

The room was dark and dirty, not at all like it was many months ago, so bright and fresh. Rain was pouring down on the roof of the old loft while a jaded man sat in the corner holding a bottle of whiskey. He slowly got up and walked over to his computer. Cautiously, he sat down in the ripped, leather chair. Putting his hands on the key board, he wrote: The man I love is dead.

Chapter 1: The Arrival

The streets of Pittsburgh were much different from the dirt roads in Georgia. They were littered with beer bottles and used syringes. Justin Taylor crossed the street to his new apartment. It looked alright from the outside, but looks could be deceiving. Inside was worse than the roads. He turned his key into the rusted lock and peeked inside of his new home. Going into his bedroom, he unpacked the suitcases, along with his computer and drawing tools. Just as he was about to get some inspiration, a loud knock came at the old door.

"Who's that? No one even knows me here." He opened it to find a tall, skinny, flamboyant looking man and a short, more conservative man next to him.

"Hi, there," the tall one said. "We're your new neighbors. I'm Emmett Honeycutt and this is Ted Schmitt." Justin smiled.

"Um, I'm Justin Taylor." Emmett glanced inside and noticed the drawings on the table.

"Oh, you're an artist?"

"Yeah, I got accepted at the Institute of Fine Arts."

"You know," Ted started, "we were actually looking for someone to do a campagne with us for the local club a few blocks down. Are you interested?"

"We'll pay you."

"I don't know. I just got here and I'm still getting used to the place."

"C'mon," Emmett said. "Just come down to the club with us and meet with a few people. You never know, they could like your work. It'll be worth it." Justin shrugged.

"Alright, what time?"

"Just come up to 3D at 7. You won't regret it. Bye, sweetie." Ted waved.

"Bye."

Lights were flashing everywhere and pulsating music was blasting out of the nightclub. Justin walked with his new friends through the neon green door and stepped into a whole new world. There were men dancing on top of platforms while others were handing them money. The music was like an acid trip to Justin, but he still managed to notice a stage in the middle of the floor that was close to the ground. The three went over the bar and ordered a few drinks.

"So, what do you think?" Emmett asked.

"I've never seen a place like this before. It's so big and—different."

"Yup, this is Babylon, the greatest gay bar in all of Pennsylvania." The music died down a bit and a lady who looked like a bad drag queen stepped on the stage. "Ooh, there's the owner. She's the one who wants us to market the Sparkling Diamond."

"The what?"

"Gentlemen and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you all to Babylon and it's my pleasure to present to you the Sparkling Diamond!" The lights dimmed down and a white light centered the stage. Smoke surrounded it while music pounded out of the speakers. A figured appeared and walked to a pole connected to the floor. He began a very provocative dance to the beat of the music. Justin was mesmerized by the dancer. He spun around and the light caught his face. It was beautiful.

"Isn't he great?" Ted asked.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Great."

The red-haired lady walked over to the backroom to find her kin.

"Michael!" she called out. He came out of a corner.

"What, can't you see I'm busy?"

"It'll only take a minute. I've arranged for Brian to see you tonight." His eyes widened. "I know. I'm excited, too! Go up to his loft at 11:30 sharp. You don't want to screw this up."

"Wow, thanks for the encouragement."

Brian finished his danced and walked towards the bar. The lady ran next to him.

"Great job, baby!"

"Thanks, Deb. So, who's this guy you want me to meet?"

"It's my son, Michael. He'll be at your loft at 11:30. You'll love him."

Emmett put his arm around Justin and said, "Okay, at 11:30 you're going to meet with Brian at his place. That's the guy who was dancing."

"Him?" Justin shouted. "You want me to meet with him?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"It's just he's so…so…"

"Hot?"

"Well, yeah. And I get really stupid and I freeze up around hot guys."

"Don't worry," he assured. "You'll be great."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Tell him that in order to really see your talents you want to draw him." Justin still seemed unsure, but he nodded to it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Meeting

The night was practically over for Brian and he decided to sit out on his balcony. He liked to stare up at the moon and the stars, wishing that he could be a bird and fly up to them. The doorbell rang so he had to part from the beautiful site to answer it. He slid the door open to find a blond, pale guy with piercing blue eyes.

"Uh, hey," the vision said. Brian gave a head nod and signaled him to come in. Justin stepped inside and put his bag on the counter. He followed Brian into the bedroom and said, "So, you want to get started?" Brian furrowed his brow.

"You like to get to the point, don't you? You want a drink?" He nodded as Brian poured him some scotch.

"Thanks." He gulped it down and asked again, "You want to get started?"

"And no foreplay?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he snuffed. He started to take off his shirt and jeans.

"Whoa! What're you doing?" Justin asked shocked.

"Getting started."

"You want me to draw you naked?" Brian got a confused look on his face.

"Is that what you call it?"

"Don't you?"

"Uh, no. Well," he said sarcastically, "start drawing." Justin grabbed his sketchbook and a pencil. "Shit, you're really drawing me."

"Yeah, it's to show you my true talents."

"Okay, then." For about 10 minutes Brian lay perfectly still while the young boy madly went at the paper. After making a few corrections, he let Brian see the pad. "Damn. That's really good. Where'd you learn to draw like that?"

"I've always been doing it," he said, getting more comfortable. "My parents say I've been drawing since I came out of the womb."

"Probably. Come sit next to me." He slowly got up and sat on the bed facing Brian.

"Wow, you've got really pretty eyes." Brian laughed. Justin suddenly got embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"No, it's okay. Most guys that come in here don't even bother to look at my face let alone my eyes."

"Well, they should. So, you like the drawing?"

"Yeah, no one's ever drawn me before."

"You can have it," he smiled. "You can hang it somewhere among the better and more expensive pictures."

"Nah, this doesn't deserve to go on a wall. I'll put it on my nightstand, that way I'll always think of you." Justin blushed at the comment. They were silent for a few moments until Brian broke the silence and said, "You know, I normally don't say this, but I really want to kiss you right now."

"Yeah, weird, huh?" They leaned in to each other and lightly touched their lips. Soon the kiss got more intense and they felt tingling run up and down their spine. They parted, both breathless.

"I can't believe it. I'm…I'm in love with you, Michael."

"Michael?"

"I mean, I never believed I could fall in love, but…"

"Why'd you call me Michael?"

"Oh, do you prefer Mike?"

"My name's Justin. I'm the guy who's helping Emmett and Ted with the thing for Babylon." Slowly having it sink in, Brian jumped off the bed and got his clothes on.

"Those mother fuckers!" he screamed. "God damn it! I told them not to fucking send people up whenever they wanted! Now Michael's going to come up and find you, then tell Debbie, then I'm fucked! You got to get out of here!" He grabbed Justin by the arm and dragged him to the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw Michael standing at the door. "Shit! Go hide behind the curtain!" Justin ran and hid himself. Brian let Michael in and said, "You must be Michael." He smiled in an odd way to make Brian cringe inside.

'Please God,' Justin thought to himself. 'Please don't let him see me. Please don't let him see me.'

"You want a drink?"

"I think I'll skip the drink," he said, rubbing his hands on Brian's chest. "Let's fuck."

"Okay," he sighed. Justin could tell he was uncomfortable and wanted to get away. Michael practically jumped on top of him and ripped his shirt open. Justin peeked out and Brian saw. "Get out," he mouthed to him.

Justin grabbed a sheet of paper and scribbled: I'm not leaving you with him. Brian rolled his eyes. He wrote: Tell him you should wait until the New Year's Eve Party, the one I'm making signs to promote.

"Maybe we should wait."

"What?"

"Let's wait to do anything until the New Year's Eve Party. You know, what a way to bring in the New Year."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. Then I'll see you then?" Michael nodded and kissed him.

"I'll see you soon," he said, walking out.

Making sure he was gone, Brian yelled, "Are you insane! I just turned down my boss' kid and made him wait for two weeks!"

"Well, you didn't want to do anything with him anyways."

"It doesn't matter what I want! What matters is…" Brian hunched over and yelped out in pain.

"Brian!" Justin said, kneeling beside him. "Fuck, what's wrong?" Brian was whimpering from the jolts of pain flowing through his body.

"I forgot my coat," Michael said, coming back in. He immediately saw Justin. "Oh, I get it. You have another guy?" he asked angrily.

"No," Justin assured. "He…"

"He's the artist," Brian said weakly. "The one your mom hired." He struggled to get up, but Justin helped him. "I was just posing for him."

"Let me see your work," he said suspiciously. Justin got his pad and gave it to him. He looked over each of them carefully. "You did these?" He nodded. "What's your name?"

"Justin Taylor. I just moved here for school."

"And what exactly are you going to be doing with Babylon?"

"Um, I'll be designing posters for the New Year's Eve Party. It'll mainly focus on Brian since he's the star of the club."

"Yeah, I know who he is." Brian finally got the urge to speak up, but was quickly shot down. "I'm not done talking to your boy yet."

"Sorry." Justin suddenly felt extremely bad for Brian and gave him a look. To his surprise, he gave one back.

"Then I'll expect to see you doing your work and not playing favorites."

As Justin was walking back to his apartment, he just couldn't stop thinking about Brian. He decided to go back and see him. He got to his door and opened it quietly. Before he could call out his name, he saw him on the balcony. He was sitting on a chair with his head in his hands. He raised it up to stare at the stars and in the moonlight he could see a tear stream down his face.

"Are you okay?" Brian jumped at the sight of him and quickly wiped the tear away.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just had to ask you something. Did…did you mean what you said about…about loving me?"

"No," he snuffed.

"Oh, okay." He sadly turned around and headed for the door.

"It's not you, it's just…I'm not allowed to love anybody," he said awkwardly. "It's kind of this thing involved with what I do here."

"Okay, that's got to be the worst excuse anyone has ever given me."

"No, it's true. I'm not allowed to fall in love. Love distracts you, plus I don't believe in it. It's too commercial."

"Then why'd you say it?"

"I'm paid to make men believe that they love me and I them. Then they keep coming back, thus more business for the club, and if I fell in love I wouldn't want to keep lying to everybody."

"Well, it felt real."

"What can I say? I'm a good actor." Brian knew Justin saw right through him.

"I think that's bull shit," he said, coming closer to him. "I think I broke the barrier and made you fall in love. Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong," he said, looking at the ground. Justin pulled his face up to meet his eyes.

"No, look me in the eyes and tell me." Brian was speechless. Justin put his hands on Brian's cheeks and passionately kissed him. Heat rose up from Brian's feet to his heart. He loved him and he couldn't deny it.

He pulled back and looking into his baby blue eyes he whispered, "You're going to be bad for business. I can tell."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Secrets

So, the lovers were together day and night, in secret, of course. Michael tried to get some free time with Brian, but he'd always seem to be busy posing for Justin. There were incidents where their affair was almost brought out into the open. They would be the dressing room at Babylon alone and Michael would barge in with a picnic basket and invite Brian to go with him. He would make an excuse saying that he has an early day and needed his sleep, when really, he would be sleeping with Justin. Most of their nights together wouldn't involve much sex. They would just stay up all night looking into each other's eyes and stare at the beauty in front of them. Sometimes Justin would sketch Brian's nude, pale body and admire his presence.

"I love the way you look in this one," he said, holding a picture.

"Did anyone ever draw you?"

"No, no one ever wanted to." Brian grabbed the paper and pencil and sat up.

"Well, I want to."

"I didn't know you could draw."

"I can't, but I have a feeling that if you're really passionate about something you could do anything." Justin buried his head in his knees. "So, go pose, damn it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just…be yourself. Just the way I like you." Brian took his time with coping his lover onto the sheet of paper. Finally, he was finished and showed it to Justin. "You like?"

"Yeah," he said shocked. "How'd you do that?"

"I told you, I'm passionate about you," he smiled, kissing him.

"Mom, I got to talk to you!" Debbie came running out of the kitchen to cater her son. "Brian keeps spending time with that runt, Justin! I can't even get close to him without an excuse about having an early morning or an appointment with Justin!"

"Okay, relax, sweetie. I'll take care of it. I promise."

"Tell him I want him at my apartment at eight tomorrow night, or he's fired."

The Babylon dancers were rehearsing their numbers for about the hundredth time when Justin sneaked into the session. Brian noticed and called a break.

"Deb, I need a minute." She nodded and he jumped off the stage and went up the stairs to meet his love. He met Justin on top of the staircase and practically jumped into his arms.

"Yuck, you're all sweaty…but I'll kiss you anyway." He chuckled at the remark. Debbie noticed the guys kiss and anger consumed her body.

"Fuck," she whispered.

"So, I'll see you tonight?" Justin asked.

"Yeah. I love you."

"I love you, too," he kissed. Just before he left they kissed a few more times.

"Get out of here," Brian laughed. He ran off just as Debbie came up the steps.

"What the hell are you doing?" He whipped around in surprise. "You're fucking around with some kid!"

"What're you talking about?" he asked, trying to deny it.

"I saw you two! Don't give me that shit!" She came up closer to him and grabbed his chin. "Now you listen to me, you're not to see that kid again. You hear me?" The thought of not seeing Justin almost brought tears to his eyes, but he fought to hold them back. "You've got a date with Michael tonight. I expect you to be there." She turned on her heel and walked back down. As soon as Debbie was out of sight, Brian felt a sharp pain jab into his stomach. He gasped ad fell to the ground. He tried to call for help, but it was too intense to speak.

"J—J—Jus—tin…" All of a sudden, Brian's world went black.

"Where the fuck is he!" Michael screamed in rage. "He's supposed to be here right now!"

"I'm sure he's just running late," his friend, David, assured.

"Three hours? I highly doubt that he's that fashionably late. I'm calling my mom."

Doctors were surrounding Brian in a hospital bed. One of the dancers found him lying unconscious in the hallway and immediately called an ambulance.

"What's wrong with him?" Debbie asked, truly concerned.

"Well, Mrs. Novatney," a doctor said, "I'm afraid that Mr. Kinney is in the later stage of AIDS." Tears pricked her eyes and made them sting.

"Well, we can get medication, right? I mean, there are tons of drugs out there, one of them has got to be useful!"

"Debbie," he said quietly. "Debbie...Brian's dying."

Justin sat looking out the window in his apartment waiting for his love to come. The place was littered with drawings of Brian from different angles or poses. He checked his watch again and started to get worried.

Debbie walked into a crowded living room, prepared to give the news to certain people.

"What's happening?" her brother, Vic, asked. She took him into the kitchen and tried to ignore the growing lump in her throat. "What's wrong?"

"He's got it," she whispered. "He's dying, Vic. He's got less than a fucking month." The phone rang and startled them both. Vic answered.

"Hello…Michael, um, hi…where's Brian? Well, he's…he's…sick. He's got a bad fever…yeah, I'll tell him. Bye. He said that he has to be better tomorrow for their date."

"Vic, we can't tell him. He has to think that everything's okay. I don't want him worrying about this."

"But, he has the right to know he's dying." She shook her head.

"I can't tell him."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Date

Brian sat next to Justin on his bed in silence.

"Don't you want to work on the posters?" Justin got up and walked out onto the balcony.

"No." Brian got quiet again until Justin blurted out, "Where we you last night?"

"I told you, I was sick." Justin turned around again. "I—I don't think this is going to work."

"What, why not?"

"Because," he said, getting up to him. "Everyone knows. Deb saw us and she's making me sleep with Michael tonight. It just won't work." He started for the door, but Justin stopped him.

"No, no, no, I won't get jealous, I promise, I won't. I love you so much." He kissed him with all his might. "Please baby. I'll—I'll—I'll draw you a picture and you can copy it or—sketch it and—and whenever we see it, it'll—it'll mean that we love each other." He rushed to his drawing board and started to draw a broken heart. "See, I'll draw this half and you draw the other half, and when we see each other we'll put the halves together and it'll be a whole." Brian smiled and took the tiny piece of paper. "See, now you have my heart."

Michael's place wasn't as glamorous as Debbie had made it up to be. Brian stepped in and was met by an eager Michael.

"Hey."

"Long time, no see." Brian nodded.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"I have a pretty good idea," he said, caressing Brian's arm.

"Right now? But I just got here." He went over to the window and looked out of it. "Did you ever look out at the stars? They seem so fragile, you know?" Michael nodded unenthusiastically. Brian looked down and saw Justin walking by holding the heart paper. Brian fingered the piece inside his pocket and hoped that Justin knew he had it. Without warning, Michael came up behind him.

"Oh, I get it," he hissed.

"No, it's not like that. I just saw him and…" Michael, taking advantage of Brian being weak, grabbed him by the arm and threw him to the ground.

"You're just using me for amusement!" He dragged him to the bed and ripped his jeans open.

"Michael, stop!" he pleaded. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm getting what I want…you." Brian tried to struggle, but couldn't break free of Michael. Suddenly, a shadow appeared over Michael and him with a baseball bat to knock him out. The figure was Brian's bodyguard, Ben.

"Take—Take me to Justin."

Justin sat by his opened window and stared at the white, glowing moon. He thought about Brian and prayed that they could make it work. The door burst open and he ran into Justin's arms.

"What happened?"

"I couldn't do it," he sobbed into Justin's shoulder. "I don't want to pretend anymore. I don't want to pretend that I don't love you."

"Shhh…you don't have to. Ben, take Brian back to his loft and help him get his things together. You can't be seen, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Brian looked up at Justin.

"What're we doing?"

"We're going to leave and never come back, okay? You'll never have to do this again, I promise."

Michael paced back and forth through his living room while people were making calls trying to figure out where Brian was.

"No luck, sir," David said to him.

"That's it. Tell my mom that if Brian doesn't come to me after the party tomorrow…I'll have Justin killed."

Brian rushed to pack all of his necessary things to go off with Justin.

"Don't go," Debbie whispered in the corner.

He was startled, but said, "I'm not doing this anymore, Deb. Justin loves me, okay? He loves me! No one's ever loved me before, so why do you want to take it away from me!" She stood silent. "We're going away from this town, away from you, away from Babylon! And there is nothing you can do to stop me!" He grabbed his bags and headed for the door.

"Brian, you're dying." He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Nice try, Debbie, but…" He saw hear face and there were tears in her eyes. "No…I'm not…I'm…dying." Brian dropped his bags and sunk to the floor. "Justin won't care…as long as we're together."

"You can't go with him. Michael said that if you do he'll kill him."

"I can't leave him, Deb. I love him."

"Then if you truly love him you'll hurt him…hurt him to save him."

When Debbie had gone, Brian stepped out onto his balcony and cried harder than he ever had before.

"I'm dying," he whispered to himself. The stars were as bright as ever and the glow was almost unbearable. It was warm out for a December night in Pittsburgh, but there was still a slight breeze. He thought about how he's never going to see another sunset, sunrise, hear music, watch television, but most of all, how's he's never going to see Justin's smile. Never going to hear his voice or feel his touch. "I don't want to die!" he cried out to the sky. "God, please don't let me die!" After an hour of crying he finally got the courage to go and see Justin.

"Where've you been?" Brian couldn't bare to look at his face.

"I'm—I'm staying with Michael." Justin's eyes widened.

"What! Why!"

"Because, I've—I've realized that our love—isn't real. It was just a crush." Brian's heart was breaking as he was saying those words. Justin shook his head.

"No, no you're lying. What happened?" He came up closer to him, but Brian backed away.

"I can't see you anymore. I…I…don't…love you." With that, he turned and ran out leaving Justin speechless and on the verge of tears. He turned and saw that his hand was embedded in the wall.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Be Still My Heart

Guards had been ordered to watch Brian's loft since that night. Justin couldn't take not seeing him. He was slowly going insane. He tried to get in, but would always be stopped quickly. In order to see his true love, he had to somehow get into Babylon the night of the party. The music was loud and pounding like the night he entered for the first time. Justin avoided all the bouncers that worked there and quietly made it to Brian's dressing room. He opened the door and saw his mate sitting in front of the mirror.

"What are you doing here?" he asked startled.

"I miss you."

"You can't be here, Justin! You have to leave!"

"No, I'm not going. Not until you tell me why you don't love me anymore. A person just doesn't wake up and stop loving someone." Brian got up and headed for the door.

"I have to go on," he said, pushing past him. Justin followed.

"No, don't walk away from me!" he shouted. "Just tell me! Tell me you don't love me!" They were in front of the curtain and it slid open. "TELL ME YOU DON'T LOVE ME!" Before they knew it, they were standing in front of thousands of people. Brian wiped his eyes, but Justin let his tears show. "Well, go! Dance for them. That's what you really love." He stepped off the stage and walked up to Michael. "Good luck." He headed for the door, but without notice Brian grabbed a piece of chalk.

"Justin!" He turned around and saw a giant broken heart on the wall. His heart stopped at the sight. "You have my heart." Michael was outraged as Justin ran and jumped onto the stage, swooping Brian into his arms. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much."

"I know. I know."

"No!" Michael screamed. "He belongs with me, not you! I want him!" Debbie stepped forward.

"Michael, you're a spoiled brat. So why don't you just shut the fuck up?" Embarrassed, he ran out of the club with red cheeks. The music started up again and the entire place was filled with laughter. Midnight struck and the lovers shared a kiss.

"This is great," Justin said, dancing with Brian. "Our first New Year's together."

"Yeah." Without warning, pain struck Brian's gut, making him keel over.

"Brian!" Justin yelled, frantically. "Oh God, what's wrong?" A few dancers went to call an ambulance and Debbie rushed to them.

"What happened?"

"I—I don't know! He just fell over!" The music stopped and Brian pulled Justin closer to him.

"J—J—Justin…I'm—I'm c—c—cold." He pulled him near to keep him warm.

"It'll be alright. You'll be okay. I'll be right here next to you."

"J—Justin…I'm d—d—dying…" He began to cry over his sick lover.

"N—N—No, you'll be o—o—okay." Brian's face got paler and his skin was getting cold. "Oh, God…"

"I—I love you. D—Don't forget t—t—that, okay?" He nodded while sobbing. "Y—Y—You made m—m—me so h—h—happy." He snuggled up closer to Justin and drifted off in his love's arms.

"NO! NO! PLEASE, BRING HIM BACK!" he cried out. "Oh God! No, Brian, come back! Please come back!" The room was flooded with tears as they watched Justin's lover die quickly. "Please, God, bring him back," he sobbed into Brian's chest. Debbie put her hand on his shoulder.

"Baby, it's over."

"No," he whimpered.

"He's gone."

"No…no…" He still held Brian in his arms long after he died. By then he was freezing. "WHY!" he screamed. "WHY'D HE HAVE TO GO!" Justin looked down at his face and swore that he was still alive. "Oh, God…"

Months had past since that night. Justin had given up art professionally, but still sketched Brian from memory. His therapist told him that keeping a journal would help the grieving process, so he started a blog that was to be kept private. Every week his therapist would read it and give her take on it. He wouldn't pay attention, though. He never went back to Babylon again. The pain was just too much for Justin to deal with. At night he would dream about Brian as if he had never died. They would go on trips or just stay at home with each other. After every dream he'd write it in the journal. Soon it was over 200 pages long.

A year later he cleaned it up and published it. It was described as a story of truth, beauty, freedom, but above all things…it was a story about love. A love that would live forever.


End file.
